Chapter 514: Pitiable and Pathetic

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"Take my command banner and execute thirty on the spot!" Yelu Wuzhi's face was iron-gray. As he spoke, he flung down a triangular command banner of vermilion edged with ochre.

Before the banner even hit the ground, a personal aide officer beside Yelu Wuzhi caught it and galloped off.

The armored riders of the Pishi Army, who moments ago had been shot out of their wits by the Divine Arm crossbows and had fled in a mass rout, all froze when they saw the triangular banner and the Great Xiangwen's personal guards with their long blades drawn.

They knew perfectly well what the commander's personal guards had come to do.

A short, stocky Khitan armored rider laboriously removed his domed helmet, connected to his neck-guard, and knelt on one knee before the officer's horse holding the banner. He was the junior general who had led the charge just now.

"The Hexi bandits' crossbows are deadly. I beg you to report to the Great Xiangwen: we are willing to redeem ourselves through service!"

The officer listened, hesitated a moment, then turned and rode back to report.

In the Khitan Liao state, anything that could wear a full suit of iron armor — man or horse — was extremely precious. The officer, too, felt that killing them rashly would be a great waste.

Before long, the officer returned with the banner and, pointing his riding crop at a man beside the junior general serving as an auxiliary soldier, asked: "Who is this?"

"He is my second son!"

The officer listened without a word, then suddenly drew his blade. Before the junior general could react, he drove it into the belly of the second son.

"The Great Xiangwen says: if there is another rout, all the household retainers of the regular armored riders will be put to death! If you break the enemy line, the Great Xiangwen will give you one of his own sons in compensation!"

All color drained from the junior general's face. He stared at his second son, still rolling on the ground wailing in agony, let out a howl of grief, put his neck-guarded helmet back on, and withdrew without looking back.

In that moment, every Khitan soldier and officer around them felt a chill of dread.

These household retainers among the Pishi Army's elite were, in truth, much like the armored auxiliaries of Yong and Liang — mostly the brothers, sons, and nephews of the regular soldiers. Killing the auxiliaries for a rout was perhaps harder to bear than killing the men themselves.

After a brief regrouping, Yelu Wuzhi gave new orders with a grave expression. In truth, he had been well prepared for this situation.

Those who followed the bandit Zhang had to be the finest of the finest. If they could have been taken in a single charge, the bandit Zhang could never have made his name shake Hexi.

Still, the casualties were far too heavy.

"Pick another five thousand riders and attack in waves. Have Li Shouzhen bring his men over and put them in the vanguard!"

Li Shouzhen's face was pale. He had known it — being transferred here for a battle like this could only mean trouble.

Those were the bandit Zhang's Hanshan Du and Yulin Guard!

The Khitans did not know how formidable these two units were, but Li Shouzhen knew a thing or two.

After all, that Hucile who went to Huainan to serve as a three-surname house-slave — not one of the valiant Liangzhou great horses under his command had ever made it into the Hanshan Du.

"You mother-fucking Li Shouzhen, you slave-born bastard, have you lost your mind, dragging us out to sell our lives for the Khitans!"

"You bandit-killing dog-slave! Sending us out in a single layer of armor to fight King Zhang's cloth-faced armored soldiers, and for a bounty of just three strings of cash — do you take your old man for a beggar?"

"You slave, you slave Li! Why don't you come up front yourself? Let one Liang crossbow bolt finish you off and spare us all your mischief!"

Yelu Wuzhi had originally intended to send Li Shouzhen's unit up to absorb a wave of crossbow fire. Several thousand men, after all — by their actual fighting strength, they ought to be able to wear down the Yong-Liang army somewhat.

But who could have guessed that Li Shouzhen's five thousand men, paid only three strings of cash apiece on setting out, would start grumbling before they even reached the fight.

The whole body of officers and men cursed him to his face until he was drenched in filth.

In truth, the soldiers were not unwilling to fight. If the Khitans could pay enough, a fight or two was acceptable.

But three strings of cash to gnaw on a super-hard bone like Yong's Hanshan Du — who did they think they were fooling?

Li Shouzhen was long accustomed to being cursed. Ever since he had sold out his country for nothing, and even his court-congratulation money had to be begged off, he and Du Chongwei could no longer hold their heads up. It was too humiliating.

What was a little cursing? Back in the Eastern Capital, the whole city had cursed the two of them.

Even a thick-skinned man like Du Chongwei had been cursed into walking with his head down — which showed just how universally despised the two of them were.

The clamorous Jin army surrendered troops moved sluggishly, complaints filling the air. But Yelu Wuzhi was not about to indulge them.

A clatter of hooves rang out as over a hundred of the Great Xiangwen's personal guards rode up and loosed a volley of arrows into the Jin troops.

Though they used blunted arrows, the surrendered soldiers were still sent shrieking and howling.

And everyone knew this was only a warning. If they dared delay again, the next wave would surely be real arrows.

"All of you, shut the hell up! Keep squawking, and even if the Khitans don't butcher you here, they'll kill your families back in the Eastern Capital!"

Li Shouzhen was thoroughly dejected. His words, however, silenced the surrendered troops.

Because their families had indeed been detained by the Khitans. If they dared make trouble, their families would certainly die.

Amid the clamor, the Jin surrendered troops finally finished forming up. They split into three great square formations and pressed toward Zhang Zhao's position from several directions.

The moment Dunzhu saw that the enemy opposite was infantry, he grew excited.

"Great King! Your general requests to go out with his three hundred javelin throwers. The Jin surrendered troops are unlikely to fight to the death for the Khitans — one blow and they will surely break!"

"Very well! I will also have Duojin lead three hundred crossbowmen to screen the formation."

When Zhang Zhao finished speaking, he pointed at the slowly moving banners of Yan Jin's force in the distance and beckoned Li Cunhui forward.

"Cunhui, look. Yan Jin must have left the stockade and is moving toward our army. The Khitans will surely only harass and delay him with light cavalry.

When you see Dunzhu and Duojin rout the Jin troops, lead three hundred riders out from the formation at a gallop, harass the Khitan cavalry around Yan Jin's force, and shield Yan Jin's men so he can close in quickly."

Although Zhang Zhao could only see Yan Jin's overall command banner and was not certain whether he had already abandoned the stockade, Zhang Zhao knew that Yan Jin must have already led his troops out. Otherwise, he would not be the brave general Zhang Zhao trusted most.

Li Cunhui looked at Zhang Zhao with concern. "My lord, if I leave the formation, what if..."

Li Cunhui meant to say that if the line could not hold, his three hundred riders could still escort Zhang Zhao to safety. Zhang Zhao waved his hand dismissively.

"The Khitan commander opposite still lacks the resolve to burn his boats. If he could order ten thousand riders to attack relentlessly without pause — one all-or-nothing gamble — then he might truly force me to mount up and flee.

But he has resorted to using Jin surrendered troops, which shows he is no decisive man. He cannot do anything to me."

Li Cunhui clasped his fists with a heavy heart and went off to select his picked riders. Dunzhu, however, was thoroughly excited.

Because the Jin surrendered troops opposite were advancing in relatively orderly square formations, and they had no crossbows.

Javelins are powerful and have decent range, but they have one very obvious weakness.

They are far less effective against fast-moving, dispersed targets, and can only be used to break a formation at one critical point.

This is because javelins fly too slowly. But the Jin surrendered troops before them were an excellent target.

Because they were dragging their feet and moving slowly, they had also gathered together in a huddle of resentment.

Li Shouzhen rode his warhorse at the very rear to hold the line. He had lost his authority by now, and did not dare send his yabing guards over to shout curses at them.

If the men below were taking their time, then he could only let them take their time. As long as the Khitan did not come up to urge them on, he had no intention of speeding up.

His soldiers below were of the same mind. Once they reached a distance of a little over a hundred paces, their speed immediately slowed.

Because if they advanced any farther, they would be within the killing range of the Yongliang Army's crossbows.

Their iron armor and wooden crossbows and the like had long since been stripped clean by the Khitan. If they went up now, they would have no way to strike back at all. Taking an arrow would truly mean staking their lives to bear it.

After dawdling for a while, Li Shouzhen saw several hundred men surge out from the opposite side. He was just about to order the whole army to halt when Dunzhu suddenly let out a wild shout.

His three hundred men also seemed like berserkers suddenly shot full of adrenaline. In an instant they charged through nearly a hundred paces, so fast it left people dumbstruck.

Immediately after, a sky full of thrown javelins came flying over!

Dunzhu pushed his speed to the limit. First he hurled a javelin with his left hand, then took a great stride forward and sent the javelin in his right hand flying out as well. With another great stride, yet another javelin came down from the sky.

The surrendered Jin troops had been slacking off to begin with and were caught completely off guard. Several hundred javelin-throwing brutes suddenly burst out from the Yongliang Army, and in that unprepared instant, over a hundred men at the front of the central force were immediately skewered and sent tumbling.

The javelins were so many that it was as if the place where they stood had suddenly sprouted several hundred wooden staves.

Panic spread rapidly through the great formation of surrendered Jin troops. The terrified, the resentful, and the slackers all immediately dodged to either side, terrified of becoming the next victims of the javelins.

But Dunzhu did not continue throwing the last javelin in his hand. Instead, he led his several hundred men at full speed to the spot where the formation of surrendered Jin troops had just been shattered.

These javelins were stuck in the ground and could still be used again.

Because these javelins were finely crafted. The front blade was triangular, and the rear end was petal-shaped. Front end toward the enemy, it was a short spear; rear end toward the enemy, it was a mace.

Dunzhu and his javelin throwers, who had crashed straight into the Jin formation, pulled up the javelins and immediately began slaughtering.

These surrendered troops had never been willing to risk their lives in the first place. Now, being cut and stabbed in succession, several dozen more were killed in an instant, and they simply scattered in all directions.

Even Li Shouzhen jumped down from his horse and fled to who knows where.

But Dunzhu did not let the killing go to his head, because he suddenly saw that at the very rear of the surrendered Jin troops, dense ranks of Khitan had appeared.

So this was Yelu Wuzhi's killing move. He had never expected the surrendered Jin troops to accomplish much. Instead, he had used them as cover, having the Khitan cavalry dismount and lead their warhorses on foot behind the Jin troops.

However, what was somewhat awkward was that Yelu Wuzhi had not expected these surrendered Jin troops to collapse so smoothly, nor had he expected that Zhang Zhao would dare have his men leap out of formation and attack on their own initiative.

So by the time the surrendered Jin troops scattered, the Khitan cavalry at the front had still not even mounted their horses, and they found themselves staring eye to eye with Dunzhu.

"Charge and kill!" Dunzhu was trembling with excitement. Were these cavalrymen, still leading their horses and not yet mounted, not the perfect targets for stabbing?

One spear thrust killed a garrison soldier who was shoving a rider up onto his horse. A backhand swing of the mace smashed a rider who had fallen from his horse until he saw stars.

Seeing a rider's foot caught in the stirrup, he viciously stabbed the horse in the belly. The pain-maddened warhorse immediately dragged the rider far away.

Yelu Wuzhi had originally arranged five thousand riders to assault from three directions, but the two thousand riders at the front were simply too unlucky. Before they had even mounted, they were hit by a counter-assault and instantly thrown into chaos.

The riders on the left and right flanks succeeded, however. They blocked the scattered surrendered Jin troops and directly swung their blades in a frenzy of hacking.

In their terror, the surrendered troops were forced to turn and run back toward Zhang Zhao's side, and had no choice but to become human shields for the Khitan.

"Spearmen! Charge! Anyone who dares break the line dies! How the hell am I supposed to charge like this?"

Zhang Zhao had no good options left either. He could only order the auxiliary spearmen to keep stabbing furiously at the surging Jin troops.

The surrendered Jin troops, caught between attacks from both sides, had no way out. Some leaped into the water one after another, while others ran wailing in all directions.

Yelu Wuzhi had wanted to drive the surrendered troops as human shields, but he had not guarded against the panicked shields directly entangling the cavalry's speed.

Yet close-quarters combat was also one of the ways armored cavalry fought at this time. Danger arrived without warning.

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